It’s a sold out show tonight for this dual headline show and for me I wouldn’t miss this just to see Caleb Caudle’s first shows in the UK. I would normally have checked into the London show but I am already at Ashley Monroe that night and so I join the other thirty or so hardy souls here.
Caleb Caudle
I have been a fan of Caleb’s for a few years now and as I mentioned to him after the show he joins a list of fellow North Carolinians who are among my favourite artists including HC McEntire, BJ Barham of American Aquarium and the great Mike Taylor and Phil Cook of Hiss Golden Messenger.
Tonight’s show is a mixture of oldies and a showcase for a bunch of new tracks which will feature on his yet to be recorded new album set to be played out in the cabin that Johnny Cash built. I have written before that there is nothing purer than just an artist and acoustic guitar and that this is the truest test of a songwriter and performer. What’s clear is that Caleb is great at both. The sound is obviously stripped back tonight and all the better for it to showcase his excellent voice and range. His relaxed self-deprecating between-song chat is immediately warming to the crowd and he fills what can be uncomfortable silences effortlessly.
The new songs more than hold their own with ‘Front Porch’ and ‘Feelin Free’ particularly strong. But obvious highlights for me were great versions of ‘Lost without you’ and ‘NYC in the Rain’ from last year’s excellent album ‘Crushed Coins’. Sadly no time for one of my favourites ‘Piedmont Sky’ but hopefully next time
So a great albeit far too short set from someone who should be receiving far more attention over here and hopefully this tour will help spread the word.
Danni Nicholls
It’s been four years since Danni’s last album, the fine ‘Mockingbird Lane’ and she’s used that time to get over a break up, have a quiet period of self-reflection and record a new album in the Tennessee woods, coming out later this year.
The set slips effortlessly between tracks from her first two albums and new songs with a special mention for ‘ancient embers’ a lovely song that really showcases her deep rich voice that’s part Bedford, part Nashville but wholly beautiful. She has great range from the sultry low tones to the real highs on a track like ‘Long Road Home’ but it is the stunningly fragile ‘Beautifully Broken’ that stands out tonight. Wow what a voice.
A great double bill tonight of two of the finest around, both of whom are adding some good new songs to their catalogues, performed in a stripped back no nonsense room in front of a rapt appreciative audience who even managed a singalong and a rarely heard hum along.
It’s been a great start to gigs in 2019, a year where I will pass the 800 mark in concerts attended and long may it continue.
Keep on country rockin’ y’all.